A Neolithic black pottery stemcup

Longshan culture (3rd millennium B.C.)

very thinly potted, the pear-shaped body with wide-cupped mouth supported on a tall hollow foot with splayed base, the upper stem finely incised with concentric lines, decorated at the lower stem with six groups of three seed-shaped piercings

height 11.5 cm

Provenance:A Dutch private collection

It is rare to find a stemcup of this unusual form. A closely related example was sold at Sotheby’s New York, March 2007, lot no. 576.